(TibetanReview.net, May14’25) – India has on May 14 blocked China’s nationalist mouthpiece Global Times and state news agency Xinhua on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) for spreading fake news on its Operation Sindoor military reprisal action against Pakistan and for attempting to rename places in its state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The Indian embassy in Beijing earlier slammed Global Times for parroting Pakistan’s claims about Indian’s Operation Sindoor military strikes, pushing fake news without verifying facts and cross-examining sources.
In one of its reports, Global Times reported that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had “shot down another Indian fighter jet in response to overnight airstrikes carried out by India at multiple locations in Pakistan,” while also citing “sources from the Pakistani military.”
The Indian Embassy in Beijing responded on X, saying, “we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of dis-information.”
On the same thread, the Indian embassy in Beijing said, “@PIBFactCheck had brought to light instances of fake news with old images showing crashed aircrafts being re-circulated in various forms in the current context of #OperationSindoor. While one is from an earlier incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jet that crashed in Rajasthan in September 2024, the other is an IAF MiG-21 fighter jet from Punjab in 2021.”
In a follow-up post, the Embassy added, “Several pro-Pakistan handles are spreading baseless claims in the context of #OperationSindoor, attempting to mislead the public. When media outlets share such information without verifying sources, it reflects a serious lapse in responsibility and journalistic ethics.”
“X has received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company’s local employees,” the site’s global government affairs team has said in a statement.
The move is seen as part of India’s sweeping crackdown targeting social media accounts of Pakistani politicians, celebrities, and media organizations amid heightened tensions and deadly confrontations between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The Elon Musk-owned platform has said it disagreed with New Delhi’s demands but had begun the process of withholding the specified accounts in India.
“Blocking entire accounts is not only unnecessary, it amounts to censorship of existing and future content, and is contrary to the fundamental right of free speech,” the statement said.
X is banned in China, where the media is entirely state-run or controlled while the Chinese-owned social media platforms are subjected to bot state oversight and stringent self-censorship rules.